NEW YORK— Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts is poised to double its management presence in Hawaii, pending the close of an agreement with Castle & Cooke Resorts LLC to raise the luxury brand’s flag on two C & C-owned properties on the island of Lana’i. The pair of hotels, the 249-room Manele Bay Hotel and the 102-room Lodge at Koele, would join Four Seasons’ existing five-diamond resort properties on Maui and Hualalai on the Big Island during 2004 and 2005, respectively. The Lana’i properties are the only hotels on the island, which is 98% owned by C&C, headed by Chairman/CEO and company owner David Murdock. “We have been in negotiations with Mr. Murdock to see if we can take over the hotels, rebrand the hotels and ultimately manage the hotels,” Wolf Hengst, president/hotel operations, of Toronto, Canada-based Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, told HOTEL BUSINESS®. “We are in the due diligence process right now to make sure we are all on the same wavelength and understand what the needs of the hotels are going forward.” While the properties are expected to be renovated, Hengst stressed it was “very important to keep the uniqueness of the hotels as they are today, yet to elevate them to the standards and quality experience that our guests of Four Seasons expect in Hualalai and Maui. We have to make certain changes without changing the base of what has made the destination so successful.” The Manele Bay Hotel, with a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, overlooks the islands of Kaho’olawe and Maui from its elevated site above the beach of Hulopo’e Bay and is surrounded by sprawling gardens with nearby rock formations and red lava cliffs creating an exotic backdrop. Similarly, the Lodge at Koele sits 1,600 feet above sea level, nestled within a forest of Cook Island pines. Playing to the environment, the property incorporates heavy timbers, stone fireplaces and beamed ceilings. The sought-to-play championship golf course, designed by Greg Norman, is known for its variety of course challenges amid unique terrain. Castle & Cooke, Inc. and its affiliates operate in 24 states along diverse tracks, including transportation-equipment leasing, brick and building materials manufacturing, public warehouse ownership, and development and ownership of real estate. The latter includes master-planned communities such as Mililai Town in Oahu, HI, and Keene’s Pointe in Orlando, FL. At presstime, Hengst told HOTEL BUSINESS® he expected the details of the agreement with C & C to be finalized by the end of June. In the meantime, Four Seasons deployed assessment teams to the properties to determine what needs to be done as part of the rebranding process during the next 12-18 months. “It’s a unique destination and it would be a natural addition to the Hawaiian experience. People like to go to Hawaii and we’ve had a lot of people going to Maui and Kona [Hualalai] for years and years and years, so if we can give them another experience with two of the best golf courses in America, what a great opportunity,” said Hengst. He added Four Seasons also plans to build a spa and wellness center. “So we’re going to offer something new as well as the experience of Hawaii.” Anticipating the deal will be consummated, Thomas Steinhauer, regional vp and general manager of the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, said Four Seasons plans to retrain the Lana’i properties’ staffs and add Four Seasons’ staff. “We feel that we can raise the business levels in those hotels, which would require more staff to begin with,” he said. As to the market, Steinhauer said “Hawaii in general has done well because it was probably the only state within the United States that has benefitted actually from an influx of travelers. Since Sept. 11 [those that]didn’t want to travel abroad but still wanted to go to an exotic, tropical environment, chose to go to Hawaii— some islands in the Caribbean as well— but the true benefit came to Hawaii.” The executive, however, suggested th
